ODP

ODP News

Monday, May 8....Rosters and summer information is posted:

http://www.arkansassoccer.org/odp/odp_summer_camps/

April 4 Updates:

Our apologies, we have been a little quiet since the last ODP training sessions and events. It has been a busy month with the beginning of the spring season, spring breaks, vacations, and the Easter holiday. We understand everyone has their summer schedule on hold waiting for rosters and we thank you for your patience.

The ODP staff is excited for the summer camps and various events in June and July. The summer schedule has been posted on the bottom of the ODP 2016/17 schedule and updated on dates for the June and July events. All events and camps do have a selected roster and the coaching staff is working hard on a couple of adjustments:

June 3 for Boys and June 4 for Girls are still scheduled training days in Fort Smith at Ben Geren Park. It is a two session day of training with a lunch break between time frames. We will not provide lunch for the players between sessions and we hope they take a break between sessions and find some air conditioning. Costs included.

June 10-11 We will have games in Plano again. We are varifying age groups based on what other states are brining to the event.we may only bring 00-05 teams. Parents are responsible for players just like Memphis and College Station with players arriving to the field 45 minutes prior to the first game. Costs $150/player Parents are responsible to get players to games.

June 16-18 Depending on teams and placement of players above.04-06 players will be invited to attend camp at University of Tulsa. Players will be dropped off on Friday at 3pm and stay on campus until Sunday at 3pm. We have designed this camp to duplicate the high level of training sessions expected at Region camp with a competitive development experience in preparation for Region camp the following year.

We have a change for Louisiana on June 23-25. We will have a ODP Leadership Development and Team Building weekend in Little Rock at War Memorial Stadium Fri-Sat.yes, overnight at the stadium with events scheduled Friday at 3pm until Saturday at noon. We are working on final costs and schedule so more information to come on the event once everything is finalized.

Region Camps are in Alabama for the dates listed on the ODP schedule. Players are on their own for transportation to the camp with the girls on campus in Montevallo, AL and the boys on campus at Tuscaloosa, AL. The teams will play games against other states and have training sessions with Region staff in hopes to make the Region III rosters. Players usually check in by 3pm on the first day and check out by noon on the last day. Holdover players for the boys are players who are selected to the Region roster and are under the direction of Region III. Players can fly into Birmingham Airport and the Region has buses to the boys camp. If you want to fly into Birmingham for the girls camp, you need to verify with Jennifer to see if we have transportation available (last year she rented a van). Costs $650/player does not include travel to Alabama.

Coaching staff is working on final rosters for the events. We are looking at posting a list with immediate invitation players and the list of alternates as we have done for past events. We will have players who will not get invited to attend events. It does not mean your player should quit playing soccer, it just means at this time we have other players who play similar positions/style of play or they are players we feel are not ready to be competitive at this level of play. It is a hard decision for the coaching staff on the final selected players for each roster which is why it takes us so long since the last session, especially with vacations and holidays. For players who do not attend events/not invited, we will work on individual feedback from the training sessions.

We will continue to update the ODP sections of the website as we finalize more information. We have information posted from 2015 so you can see a general overview of the events. If you have further questions, send us an email at odp@arkansassoccer.org

Monday, Feb 27

Hey everyone, Since the spring season has started, we are going to have registrations for all sessions so we can keep track of the amount of coaches for each session. Please register by Thursday at noon so we can assign coaches for the sessions. (No fee for training and 4v4 games but we will charge you $10 for no show if you register.)

We will work on peeling off from the defender and creating space in the attacking third at the training sessions this weekend. The lesson plans should be posted by Saturday on the about ODP page.

March 20-22 ODP Functional camp registration is open. We do not have enough available coaches for two locations. Register for the Russellville camp: https://www.gotsport.com/asp/application/reg/?ProgramID=57503

If you have trouble with any of the links to register for ODP above, they are all posted on the ODP schedule page.

See you this weekend!

Friday, Feb 24

We have had a busy month of ODP and now league games are starting. Please attend your league games as ODP training becomes secondary. Please send us an email if you are not able to attend or planning on leaving early or arriving late: odp@arkansassoccer.org

Everyone in this age group is welcome to attend this session. We will be working on Possession again this weekend. Our players struggled with comfort with the ball and when to penetrate or keep the ball in the middle third of the field. The coaches will work on same lesson plans but may adapt to 6 goal games depending on numbers. Bill Birnie and Dave Marshall will lead the sessions at Ben Geren.

Players will need to arrive by 12:30pm so we can organize teams and get players warmed up for games.

Please wear your grey or blue shirt for the games. We will have pinnies at the fields for games. Teams

will be split based on players positions so please make sure your player agrees with their primary position.

Players will manage their own games and parents are not allowed to coach or call fouls during the games.

We are evaluating players during the whole time they arrive for the session and the coaches will have the freedom

to coach players, adjust teams over the three hours. Game times and the amount of games will be based

on the amount of players registered.

We have staffed mainly college coaches for the session so we can end with a coaches panel around 4pm. Be prepared to ask some questions.

Updates:

High School players need to submit their AAA compliance forms in order to train March-May due to AAA high school rules.

We are compiling a technical report from the subRegional events so please be patient as we collect the information from the coaches. We understand some of our teams did well and others struggled. We knew what level of competitive we would be facing heading into both weekends but our teams are continuing to improve and they are getting more comfortable in what to expect moving ahead in the ODP program. We are playing against other states with 100, 000 registered players and we have less than 20,000 in Arkansas. Be patient in the process as the games are showing better possession each time we play as a group. The subRegional events are for the coaches to evaluate players in the "real game situations" and see how coachable the players are at the high level. It is very confusing for our players when they are asked to do something but a parent is telling them different information. Please let the players make decisions in games as we allow the m to fail in ODP and we can teach the player what cues to look for to make a better decision in the future. The ODP level of play is for the players to learn and be allowed to fail which is not results driven.

Each player should have compiled individual goals from the weekend. What they did well and what they need to work on moving forward. Each game is another specific goal for that player to achieve...technical or tactical achievement for example: receive the ball four times with the right foot and successful complete 60% of passes. Do a move around a player and take a quick shot on frame four times. Goalkeeper to catch each ball clean and distribute by hand successful four times for our team to maintain possession. Goalkeeper take a goalkick to land 30 yards for our player to successful receive the ball. Defender to take the ball out of the air four times to distribute and successfully complete passes 70%. Parents can keep stats but the players will choose to discuss or not.

Please review the very bottom on the ODP schedule to see the summer dates and remainder of training sessions. The staff will be discussing the needs and availability of the rainout dates to see if we have enough staff to do a couple more additional sessions.

We do have a functional camp in Russellville March 20-22. Registration will open on Monday. We are checking staff and field availability if we can add another camp for NWA.

Players: Please wear your blue shirts, black shorts, and white socks to all games. 99-02 Age groups will receive their blues at their first games. Goalkeepers can wear their own gear but please try to wear non-club logo.

POOL Games: All event staff will be selecting players for POOL GAMES for 200-2004 Age groups and games are on Sunday.

All HIGH SCHOOL PLAYERS

All High School Players need to have the AAA Compliance form on file for ODP sessions during High School Season if you are playing for your high school. The ODP is a program that is allowed to train during high school season on Sundays for 105 minutes.

2017 ODP Memphis Event Information

Here is the link to the hotels the event has set aside for Arkansas. You have the freedom to choose your hotel just review the cancellation policies. The Holiday Inn has separate rules so please review it.

Please book hotels ASAP blocks will be cancelled Feb 10 if not already filled: Hotels

The game schedule is set with one game per day and with National rules so the older age groups (00-02) have limited substitutions with no re-entry in the half. The event will also have lectures and presentations in the afternoons on Saturday and Sunday with more information coming soon.

A sneak peak to the lectures: how to handle the college requirements, helpful hints to get into college, what the Regional, US Soccer, and college coaches/scouts look for in a player, and a panel of college players to hear it all from their perspective

Below are the list of teams we have entered for the event. We have listed every player who is registered in the ODP system. If you are listed in yellow you are considered an alternate for the event and not allowed to register until we have considered all players registered and we need alternates. If you are not on the list, please send an email to ODP@arkansassoccer.org.

High School players 99-02. You will have $150 Memphis fee plus $100 fee charged next month for remaining ODP fees for Select training each month. You must agree to pay both fees in order to be considered for Memphis event. We are assuming you are accepting your position to continue to the Arkansas State Team for the summer and all events.

03-06 Players have a $150 fee for the Memphis event. 03-06 Players are still allowed to continue training whether they have been selected for Memphis or not as we are still selecting players for the 03-06 age groups for the Arkansas teams.

We are working on what coaches will be assigned to each team but we also want to try to have two coaches at each game so we are still working on the rubrics for coaches. As you can see it will be a good staff for the weekend no matter who is assigned to the team.

Since Jennifer will be at the event, please check Facebook page (Arkansas State Soccer) for any last minute updates or the South Texas friendlies page.

Reminders:

03 and 04 age groups will be 11v11 games with 35 minute halves

05 and 06 age groups will be 9v9 games with 30 minute halves

Wear your blue ODP shirt, black shorts, and white socks

Do NOT wear club gear

If you do not have a blue shirt, your coach at your first game will have it. Jennifer will have extras.

Arrive to your first game at least 45 minutes early, especially if need blue shirt

This is an ODP friendly event which means ZERO TOLERANCE for referee, coach, player, parent, or spectator abuse and misconduct. We will remove people from the event.

The event is for observation of players as individuals and as part of the age group moving forward

Soccer is meant to be FUN and enjoyable to participants and spectators.

We will see you in College Station. Save travels. Check and Double check all of your soccer gear for the weekend to make sure it is in the bag and in the car. Soccer balls should be included.

December 30, 2016

Here are the rosters for the ODP SubRegional Event in College Station. If you choose not to attend, let us know odp@arkansassoccer.org...we realize you may have a conflict. We do have training in January prior to the event so we will continue to evaluate players as alternates. Please register for the event in GotSoccer and your hotel by January 10.

The rosters are listed by numbers and the birth years. The boys side has some missing names to the numbers so let me know ASAP if your player with that number.

The rosters are based on the notes and information from the coaches at each of the sessions. If you are not on the list, just keep working hard to at the training sessions to make the next event and you will be an alternate for this event.

We will be at College Station on January 28-29. Games will start in the morning on Saturday with the first games at 8am. The last games on Sunday are usually 1 or 2pm.

You will need to register your player in GotSoccer to secure your spot on the Arkansas team. The registration for the event covers the team entry fee and coaches fees for the weekend. Registration is closed.

December 9, 2016

Another ODP weekend. Please make sure you check the Facebook page and emails prior to heading out in case of weather turning colder and wet. Assume the session is a "go" unless it is posted on Facebook or an email has been sent. Have your player dress in layers and be prepared to train. We are still working on lesson plans for the weekend but the players will be working on possession in the middle third of the field. If you attend a session on Saturday and travel to the other location for Sunday, it will be the same session. The high school players may be the only exception with a couple of different games for their session from Saturday to Sunday since they have tryouts.

We have had a couple of questions about rosters for the subRegional event in January. If all the sessions are a "go" this weekend, we will look at rosters for teams/players next week.

For those of you who are Star Wars fans, if we have a cancellation this weekend, the first day for Rainout schedule is Dec 18 so assume it would be the same time frame when/if moved to another date.

Bathrooms at Brunner and Lay are closed due to water being turned off. Go prior to the session. Assume the water will be turned off at the smaller locations so go to the bathroom before arriving to the fields.

Reminders:

players must attend sessions for their own gender and birth year

players are welcomed to attend sessions in Central or NWA for their gender and birth year

goalkeeper sessions are open to everyone...we have limited coaches so be prepared to listen and learn if we have a large group

bring a ball, water, and wear shin guards to all sessions

lesson plans should be posted later tonight for the weekend

be ready to work hard, don't be afraid to fail, make the player next to you better

November 23, 2016

We have ODP this weekend in two locations...Please read the entire email as there are common questions on the bottom....

If you are available to help at check-in...email us please ;)

Burns Park Fields 13-14

1-3pm 99-02 Girls Tryout Date

3-5pm 99-02 Boys Tryout Date

Players need to attend a minimum of one session to be considered for the team starting Jan-July. Attending more sessions allows the coaching staff multiple opportunities to evaluate players and make better decisions for the older age groups.

Will Montgomery, Tasha Flynn, John Chisolm, and Zac Moore will be the coaches for the sessions.

Ben Geren, Fort Smith

1-3pm 03-06 Boys

3-5pm 03-06 Girls

We will have a session about building out of the back and go into playing the ball in reverse. This is the first session in NWA so it may be a review from those who attended the previous session at Burns.

We have posted the sessions on our website: http://www.arkansassoccer.org/about_odp/

If you are in Ben Geren this weekend, Jennifer will speak to the parents around 1pm for the first session and 3pm for the second session.

If you have not received your ODP shirt, you will receive it at your first session. Please arrive at least 20 minutes early to receive your shirt.

Master Schedules were updated last week. We rescheduled the sessions from Dec 3-4 to Dec 10-11 due to low number of coaches available because of US Soccer Education Training and Tournament weekend.

Jan 2-3 we will have a camp in NWA. We are checking coaches availability first to see if it will be an all day camp or just an afternoon. More details will be posted next week and registration for winter camps will open next week.

Emails were sent about the ODP trip to England. Please respond directly to them if you are interested: odp@exelsports.net Jennifer will approve final rosters for the trip to make sure they are competitive and age appropriate. Parents/families are welcomed to attend also.

COMMON QUESTIONS

If you cannot attend a session, please email us at ODP@arkansassoccer.org so we can try to keep an accurate head count for coaching staff. We assume you will attend the sessions if you do not email us.

You are welcomed to attend any/all sessions for your age group. We try to have both lists at check-in but you may need to be written in for the coaches notes.

We do not penalize players for not attending sessions. Each training session is an opportunity for the coaches to evaluate players for selections to events and final summer camps.

We try to have Goalkeeper sessions available each week but it depends on the availability of the GK coaches.

ODP Handbook is on the "about ODP" website page. Please review with your players so they understand the expectations for having success in the program.

November 11, 2016

The first sessions are this weekend for the 03-06 age groups. Here is the schedule for the next two weeks:

Nov 12-13: This weekend we will be working on building out of the back and goalkeepers will work on basic catches and distribution to be added to the team session in Phases 3 and 4.

Please arrive 30 minutes prior to your session so we can check-in players, hand out t-shirts, and move the players to their assigned fields. Please make sure your player has shin guards, neutral (no team logo) attire, plenty of water, quality sized ball with air, and good attitude to learn and compete.

We do need some volunteers for check-in so email me if you are available to help 30 minutes prior to the session.

We will have a parent meeting once the sessions start so you can meet me and ask any questions. Most of the staff will be at the State Cup/Governors games this weekend so come and say hello. You never know who is watching you on the soccer field so play well in your games and in all of the training sessions.

Weekly emails/any updates will be posted on the website also: http://www.arkansassoccer.org/odp_news/

Reminder that Facebook is usually the first location we update: https://www.facebook.com/arsoccer/

October 7, 2016

We are working on the schedule and field locations for the sessions this year. Please be patient as we are getting close to open the registration for this year. The programming for this year will have some changes but will include players who were born 98-06. The 99 and 98 age groups will not attend Region camp but are allowed to attend sessions as the program allows.